
(Lovely cakes courtesy of my daughters, from 2007)
One of my favorite shows to watch sometimes, as I sit and stitch...is The Great British Baking Show although, I don't think its in production anymore. It's a bit confusing, because what's currently being billed as Season 5, is actually Season 3 (from 2012), and has never been shown in the U.S. In fact, this show is prior to any of the seasons American audiences watched (on PBS); the first show aired in 2013. So even though Mary Berry and the ladies have moved on, they will be presented as if nothing has changed. Like watching a rerun, that never ran. Makes perfect sense.
Anyway, the charming hosts of the show Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins often shouted, "BAKE!!" at the start of each contest, and that memory sort of inspired a little re-design of an old tea towel pattern and some fun needlework.
This 1960's tea towel design, from Tri-Chem, with its heavy block style lettering, was originally designed to be painted over with liquid embroidery, which back in the day was a new product introduced as a time-saving technique for the busy working woman. My Mom, being a busy working woman, had eagerly purchased the ball-point tubes of paint for us to try (I was about 12 then), but discovered the medium was messy and difficult to control. As a result, we ended up with some very interesting dust cloths! However, I'm told the current liquid embroidery paint tubes work much better. So if you prefer coloring to stitching then here's something for you too.
But as I prefer to stitch these, and others may as well, I took liberties and made a few slight modifications to the graphics choosing a friendlier font (for needlework), and a different layout. If you love Lazy-Daisy, I've also added optional daisy borders, to carry out the theme. They can be stamped lengthwise alongside the chicken (like the original lettering) or used as a border underneath her.

But wait! There's more! I also created BAKE! as a theme towel. It's not shown on the envelope cover (above), but it will be included in the pattern as a sort of Surprise Bonus. Only my blog readers will know the what, where, when, how and why.

Here's the BAKE! towel, stamped and ready to go.

Already a work in progress! This was stamped onto a fresh flour sack dish towel, but I think it would be darling on an apron bib or baking smock. It measures about 8" x 7" (without the weekday).
These old patterns usually had numbers and rarely had names (with the exception of Aunt Martha's). But this one had neither that I could find, so I've given it both and added it to the PatternBee website as Spring Chicken #4472. In the event you are reading this years from now and the link no longer works, you may find it under the Kitchen Towel category, under 'Feathered Friends'.
I'll post a picture of my finished towel HERE.